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Kingsland Picture Theatre

This cinema, sometimes called the 'Kings' opened in January 1914 as the Kingsland Picture Palace. Situated on the south side of Kingsland Square, its exterior had a mock-Tudor frontage with three fake gables; its interior resembled a large shed. Being located next to the town's busiest market meant that it was always popular, both as a place of entertainment and as a meeting place. It was bombed during the Blitz of 1940 and remained an empty shell until the site was cleared in 1955.

Kingsland Cinema, Kingsland Square

Photograph, c.1940

Further reading:

The Big Show: British Cinema Culture in the Great War 1914-1918, by Michael Hammond, see index. (HS/r)Dream Palaces: Going to the Pictures in Southampton, by Bill White, p19. (HS/r)